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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES W. DANFORTH, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

PADDLE-WHEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 244,197, dated July 12, 1881.

Application filed December 10, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES WILLIAM DAN- FORTH, of Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Paddle-Wheels, of which the following is a specification.

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of the improvement, taken through the line an ac, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan view of a part of the wheel.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The object of this invention is to prevent the paddles from lifting water as they rise therefrom.

The invention consists in the construction of the paddles, and their arrangement and means for attaching them to the body of the wheel, as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, A is the shaft to which the hubs B of the paddle-wheel are secured.

To the hubs B are secured the inner ends of the radial arms 0, to the outer ends of which are secured metal rings or rims D.

To the arms 0, at a little distance from their outer ends, are secured the inner rings or rims, E, concentric with the outer rims, D.

The paddles F are each made of two boards placed edge to edge and meeting each other at an obtuse angle, d. The adjacent edges of the boards F are beveled, so that they will rest squarely against each other and form a close joint.

To the opposite sides of the ends of the paddles F are bolted iron bars G H to strengthen the paddles F, and to serve as a means for connecting the said paddles with the wheel. The brace-bars G, attached to the concave side of the paddle F, or both bars G H, are made of such a length that their ends overlap the rims DE, and are securely bolted to the said rims D E. The paddles F are placed in inclined positions, so that their ends cross the arms 0 obliquely, and the bars G, or both the bars G H, are bolted to the said arms 0. The

paddles F are attached to the wheel at such inclinations that their double-inclined faces a b will strike the surface of the water in nearly horizontal positions, so that the paddles will gradually approach vertical positions as they pass through and rise from the water, as indicated by the water-line I I in Fig. 1.

By this construction the double inclination or V shape of the faces a b of the paddles F will cause them to enter the water more easily than flat paddles which strike the water horizontally, causing them to take a better hold upon the water than paddles which enter the water obliquely. By this construction the resistance of the water as the paddles F enter the water will tend to raise the wheels, and thus tend to float the vessel more out of the water than when ordinary paddles are used. By this construction, also, the paddles will pass out of the water nearly vertical, and will thus avoid the lifting of water by the paddles, and the consequent tendency to depress the vessel.

I do not claim, broadly, a wheel-paddle having an obtuse angle transversely, nor the employment of metal bars for attaching narrow paddles to and between wheel-rims; but my invention pertains to a different and improved construction and combination of parts, for which I make the following claim:

The combination, with the radial wheelarms 0, and pairs of parallel rims D D and E E, of the paddles F, constructed of two parts, placed transversely at an obtuse angle to each other, and the angular fastening-bars G H, secured to opposite sides of the paddles and to the rims, as shown and described, whereby said parts of the paddles are held in the required angular relation to each other, and the paddles, as a whole, are secured rigidly in place, as specified.

JAMES WILLIAM DANFORTH.

Witnesses:

S. W. SENcEEBo, RICHARD L. RoBINsoN. 

